Paula Deen’s merchandise and media empire is fast unraveling. Retailers Target Corp. and Home Depot Inc. and diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk became the latest companies to sever ties or distance themselves from celebrity cook Paula Deen as fallout builds from revelations that the Southern celebrity chef used racial slurs in the past.

It’s been a brutal week for Paula Deen, who appeared Wednesday morning on “The Today Show” for an exclusive interview with Matt Lauer to discuss the firestorm that’s erupted since the celebrity chef admitted in a deposition that she’s made racially insensitive comments in the past.

Will Paula Deen go the way of Michael Richards or Charlie Sheen? One unleashed a bigoted tirade and is no longer a lovable, easily employable clown. The other carved a brand out of crazy — reported hotel N-word rant and all — but is back on TV earning millions.